Virus immunization using entity-sponsored bypass network

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, device, method, computer program product, and system are described that in some instances may provide access to at least one bypass network, provide distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications network associated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network, and provide an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to the providing the distribution.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

1. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements referencedbelow, the present application constitutes a continuation in part ofcurrently co-pending United States patent application entitledMulti-Network Virus Immunization, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A.Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr., andLowell L. Wood, Jr., as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/413,969,filed Apr. 27, 2006.

2. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements referencedbelow, the present application constitutes a continuation in part ofcurrently co-pending United States patent application entitled VirusImmunization Using Prioritized Routing, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, RoyceA. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr., andLowell L. Wood, Jr., as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/474,523,filed Jun. 22, 2006.

3. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements referencedbelow, the present application constitutes a continuation in part ofcurrently co-pending United States patent application entitledMulti-Network Virus Immunization With Separate Physical Path, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud,John D. Rinaldo, Jr., and Lowell L. Wood, Jr., as inventors, U.S.application Ser. No. 11/492,689, filed Jul. 24, 2006.

4. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements referencedbelow, the present application constitutes a continuation in part ofcurrently co-pending United States patent application entitledMulti-Network Virus Immunization With Trust Aspects, naming Edward K. Y.Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo,Jr., and Lowell L. Wood, Jr., as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No.11/492,691, filed Jul. 24, 2006.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit ofPrior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, availableat http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm.The present applicant entity has provided above a specific reference tothe application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited bystatute. Applicant entity understands that the statute is unambiguous inits specific reference language and does not require either a serialnumber or any characterization, such as “continuation” or“continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patentapplications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant entityunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence applicant entity is designating the presentapplication as a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as setforth above, but expressly points out that such designations are not tobe construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as towhether or not the present application contains any new matter inaddition to the matter of its parent application(s).

All subject matter of the Related Applications and of any and allparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the RelatedApplications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent that suchsubject matter is not inconsistent herewith.

SUMMARY

An embodiment provides a method. In one implementation, the methodincludes but is not limited to providing access to at least one bypassnetwork, providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with a virus, using the at least onebypass network, and providing an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution. In addition to the foregoing,other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides a computer program product. In oneimplementation, the computer program product includes but is not limitedto a signal-bearing medium bearing one or more instructions forproviding access to at least one bypass network, one or moreinstructions for providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with a virus, using the at least onebypass network, and one or more instructions for providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distribution.In addition to the foregoing, other computer program product aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

An embodiment provides a device. In one implementation, the deviceincludes but is not limited to an entity-sponsored virus immunizationsystem, and the entity-sponsored virus immunization system includes butis not limited to access logic operable to provide access to at leastone bypass network, and distribution logic operable to providedistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network, thedistribution logic being further operable to provide an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution. In addition tothe foregoing, other device aspects are described in the claims,drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides a system. In one implementation, the systemincludes but is not limited to a computing device and one or moreinstructions. The instructions when executed on the computing devicecause the computing device to provide access to at least one bypassnetwork, provide distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with a virus, using the at least onebypass network, and provide an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution. In addition to the foregoing,other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present disclosure.

In addition to the foregoing, various other embodiments are set forthand described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description)and/or drawings of the present description.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processesdescribed herein, as defined by the claims, will become apparent in thedetailed description set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example multi-network virus immunization system inwhich embodiments may be implemented, perhaps in a device.

FIG. 2 illustrates example embodiments of a communications network ofthe multi-network virus immunization system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates example embodiments of bypass network(s) of themulti-network virus immunization system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example immunization system for providing virusimmunization using an entity-sponsored bypass network.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operational flow representing example operationsrelated to techniques for virus immunization using an entity-sponsoredbypass network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 is a partial view of an example computer program product thatincludes a computer program for executing a computer process on acomputing device.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example system in which embodiments may beimplemented.

The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example multi-network virus immunization system100 in which embodiments may be implemented. In the example of FIG. 1,the multi-network virus immunization system 100 is operable, forexample, to prevent or reduce damage caused by malicious software code,or otherwise limit a propagation and/or replication of any undesiredcode or behavior within a computer network. For example, themulti-network virus immunization system 100 may be operable to limitpropagation/replication of undesired code within a first network byinitiating a competing and inherently-advantaged propagation/replicationof desired code, using a second network.

In the example of FIG. 1, an example of such a first network isillustrated as a communications network 102. The communications network102 may include, for example, virtually any computer network over whichusers and/or network devices may conduct a mutually-desirable exchangeof information, where such mutually-desirable information may includeand/or be referred to as communications data. For example, suchcommunications data may include voice or e-mail traffic that is desiredby both a sending and a receiving party, or may include a file transfer(including, for example, a video and/or audio file transfer) desired byboth a sending and a receiving party. The communications network 102 mayinclude, for example, a virtual local area network, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), and/or a corporate intranet, and, in such examples, maybe implemented as part of (e.g., as a subset of) a larger network, suchas, for example, the public Internet. Other examples of thecommunications network 102 and of communications data are provided inmore detail, herein.

Further in the example of FIG. 1, an example of the second networkreferenced above as part of the multi-network virus immunization system100 may include a logical bypass network 104 and/or a physical bypassnetwork 106, and/or other example(s) of a bypass network(s), asdescribed in more detail, herein. For example, the logical bypassnetwork 104 may include a computer network that is at least partiallylogically separate from the communications network 102 (e.g., at leastone or more segments of the logical bypass network 104 may be logicallyseparate from the communications network 102). For example, thecommunications network 102 and the logical bypass network 104 may bothbe implemented on an identical set (or sub-set(s)) of computing devicesthat are physically connected to one another, but that implementdifferent network protocols, or that implement different instances ofthe same or similar network protocols, or that are implemented atdifferent layers of a protocol stack, or are otherwiselogically-separated from one another.

For instance, a computer that is common to both the communicationsnetwork 102 and the logical bypass network 104 may be assigned a firstInternet Protocol (IP) address on the communications network 102, and asecond IP address on the logical bypass network 104. It should beunderstood that computers common to the communications network 102 andto the logical bypass network 104 may share a common hub or switch, orother network device(s), but may nonetheless representlogically-separate networks that are generally incapable ofcommunicating with one another without some type of translation ormediation therebetween. For example, as discussed in more detail herein,such translation and/or mediation may occur at a router or gateway thatconnects the communications network 102 and the logical bypass network104.

The physical bypass network 106 represents, for example, a network thatis at least partially physically separate from the communicationsnetwork 102. For example, the physical bypass network 106 may includecomputers or other network devices that are different physical devicesthan those found on the communications network 102, and/or thatcommunicate using different (types of) transmission media and/ortechniques, and/or that are configured using a physically distinctnetwork topology. For example, where the communications network 102 mayinclude one or more local area networks (LANs) connected together in awired fashion (e.g., using Ethernet and/or fiber), the physical bypassnetwork 106 may include a satellite-based network, or a cellularnetwork, or some other physically separate network, examples of whichare discussed in more detail, herein.

Of course, although the example of FIG. 1 illustrates the logical bypassnetwork 104 and the physical bypass network 106, it should be understoodthat these are merely intended as non-limiting examples, and thatadditional or alternative examples of bypass network(s) may be used inthe multi-network immunization system 100. Further, although both thelogical bypass network 104 and the physical bypass network 106 areillustrated in FIG. 1, it should be clear that, in any givenimplementation of the multi-network immunization system 100 (such asthose described herein), only one such bypass network may be used.

As referenced herein, the logical bypass network 104 and/or the physicalbypass network 106 may be used to prevent or reduce apropagation/replication of undesired code or behavior on thecommunications network 102. In the example of FIG. 1, a virus 108 isillustrated that represents and includes any such undesired code orbehavior, including but not limited to, for example, malicious code thatis created and/or distributed within the communications network 102 by aparty desiring to harm or otherwise inconvenience users of thecommunications network 102. For example, the virus 108 may includeself-replicating and/or self-propagating (and perhaps evolving) codethat may infect network devices of the communications network 102, soas, for example, to destroy, modify, or create data on such networkdevice(s). More generally, the virus 108 may represent and includevirtually any code that attacks a confidentiality, integrity,availability, accountability, and/or accuracy of a device and/ortransmission of the communications network 102. Even more generally, thevirus 108 need not be malicious in the sense(s) just referenced, but maysimply be undesired on the communications network 102 by anadministrator or other user of the communications network 102. Furtherexamples of the virus 108 are provided in more detail, herein.

An immunization system 110 is illustrated in the example of FIG. 1 thatis operable to determine the virus 108 that is associated with thecommunications network 102. The immunization system 110 is furtheroperable to distribute an anti-viral agent 112 and/or an anti-viralagent 114 onto the communications network 102 using a bypass network,e.g., the logical bypass network 104 and/or the physical bypass network106. The logical bypass network 104 and/or the physical bypass network106 is/are configured to provide transmission of the anti-viral agent112 and/or the anti-viral agent 114 with at least one of a highertransmission speed, a higher transmission reliability, a highertransmission security, and/or a physically-separate transmission path,relative to transmission of the virus 108 on the communications network102. In this way, the virus 108 may be prevented or limited fromspreading or existing on the communications network 102.

In this regard, it should be understood that the virus 108 mayreplicate, exist, and/or propagate on the communications network 102 ina manner(s) that may be very fast and/or difficult to detect and/ordestroy. In fact, in many cases, the virus 108 may be specificallyengineered to be difficult to contain within the communications network102. For example, the virus 108 may spread in a multi-cast or broadcastfashion, and may infect devices of the communications network 102 in avirtually exponential progression. In other examples, the virus 108 maybe designed to infect devices of the communications network 102 and totake no action on an infected network device 116 of the communicationsnetwork 102, at least initially, while the virus 108 spreads to a largernumber of network devices. Then, the virus 108 may execute (e.g., aftersome pre-designated time or signal), so that a large number ofalready-infected and damaged devices are determined at once. Thus, inmany cases, the virus 108 may have an inherent advantage (e.g., a“head-start”) in propagating on the communications network 102,particularly since, for example, a curative or mitigating response tothe virus 108 often may not be developed with sufficient specificity andeffectiveness until the virus 108 is sufficiently examined and analyzed.

The multi-network virus immunization system 100 thus uses a bypassnetwork, such as the logical bypass network 104 and/or the physicalbypass network 106, to provide an alternate, out-of-band, or otherwiseadvantageous channel and/or path for transmission of the anti-viralagent 112 (and/or the anti-viral agent 114). As described herein, one ormore characteristics and/or metrics of such bypass network(s) may enabledistribution of the anti-viral agent(s) 112, 114 in an advantageousmanner that enhances an effectiveness thereof in preventing or limitingthe virus 108 on the communications network 102.

For example, the logical bypass network 104 may provide transmission ofthe anti-viral agent 112 to a non-infected network device 118 of thecommunications network 102 with a greater transmission speed, lowerlatency, effective speed, and/or faster delivery time than provided bythe communications network 102 in delivering the virus 108 from theinfected network device 116 to the non-infected network device 118. Moregenerally, as the virus 108 spreads through the communications network102, the immunization system 110 may use the logical bypass network 104to distribute the anti-viral agent 112 ahead of the spreading of thevirus 108. In this way, the anti-viral agent 112 may immunizenon-infected (e.g., not-yet infected) network devices of thecommunications network 102, including the non-infected network device118, against the virus 108. Accordingly, the spread of the virus 108 onthe communications network 102 may be slowed or stopped, as fewer andfewer network devices on the communications network 102 are available aspossible hosts for the virus 108.

Similar comments apply to the physical bypass network 106 indistributing the anti-viral agent 114. Moreover, as described herein,other characteristics and/or metrics associated with the physical bypassnetwork 106 (and/or the logical bypass network 104) may be utilized indistributing the anti-virus agent 114 (and/or the anti-viral agent 112)on the communications network 102. For example, the physical bypassnetwork 106 may provide transmission of the anti-viral agent 114 with agreater reliability and/or greater security than is available to thecommunications network 102 in transmitting the communications dataand/or the virus 108. Greater reliability in this sense may include, forexample, point-to-point and/or end-to-end reliability in transmittingthe anti-viral agent 114 than is available to the communications network102. Similarly, greater security may include, for example, greaterpoint-to-point and/or end-to-end security (e.g., encryption). By usingan effectively higher reliability and/or security, the physical bypassnetwork 106 may increase the probability or expectation that theanti-viral agent 114 may be delivered to the communications network 102in a way that is effective in stopping or otherwise limiting the spreadof the virus 108.

In some example implementations, the anti-viral agent(s) 112, 114 alsomay be self-replicating and/or self-propagating. Thus, once deployedonto the communications network 102, the anti-viral agents 112, 114 mayspread to a plurality of non-infected devices thereof, so that suchnon-infected devices may be rapidly immunized against the spread of thevirus 108. Due to the advantage(s) provided by the characteristics ofthe logical bypass network 104 and the physical bypass network 106,respectively, the anti-viral agents 112, 114 may compensate for, orovercome, any advantages experienced by the virus 108 in propagating onthe communications network 102, and may therefore be effective instopping or otherwise limiting the propagation of the virus 108.

In the example of FIG. 1, the immunization system 110 includes a networkmonitor 120 that is operable to determine the virus 108 on thecommunications network 102. For example, the network monitor 120 maydetect and/or identify the virus 108, by, for example, implementingdetection rules 122, and/or using known virus data 124. For example, thedetection rules 122 may specify parameters for selecting and scanningnetwork devices of the communications network 102 (e.g., which or howmany network devices should be scanned, and with what frequency), andthe network monitor 120 may implement these and/or other examples of thedetection rules 122. The network monitor 120 also may determine thevirus 108 using known virus data 124, e.g., by comparing a signature ofthe virus 108 with known virus signatures stored therein, according tothe detection rules 122. Various other examples of the nature andoperation of the network monitor 120, the detection rules 122, and thevirus data 124 are provided in more detail, herein.

The immunization system 110 also includes a response generator 126 thatis operable to communicate with the network monitor 120 to generate aresponse to the virus 108. The response generator 126 may act accordingto response rules 128 that may govern, for example, a creation of theanti-viral agents 112, 114 and/or a distribution of the anti-viralagents 112, 114 using the logical bypass network 104 and/or the physicalbypass network 106. For example, the response generator 126 may use theresponse rules 128 to determine which of the logical bypass network 104and the physical bypass network 106 to use (in a case where both areavailable), or where and how to inject the anti-viral agents 112, 114onto the communications network 102. The response rules 128 also maygovern a manner in which the response generator 126 uses anti-viralagent data 130 to create, distribute, or otherwise provide the virus108. For example, the response generator 126 may select from severalpossible anti-viral agents and/or distribution strategies available inthe anti-viral agent data 130, based on information provided by thenetwork monitor 120 and/or based on the response rules 128.

As another example, the response generator 126 may provide theanti-viral agent 114 by first distributing a reference 132 to theanti-viral agent 114 on the communications network 102, using thephysical bypass network 106. For example, the reference 132 may includea pointer, link, or other identifier of the anti-viral agent 114, sothat, for example, the non-infected network device 118 may obtain orotherwise access the actual anti-viral agent 114 itself, e.g., from theanti-viral agent data 130. Various other examples of the nature andoperation of the response generator 126, the response rules 128, and/orthe anti-viral agent data 130 are provided in more detail, herein.

In FIG. 1, the immunization system 110 is illustrated as beingimplemented on a (single, generic) device 134, which may representvirtually any computing device(s) capable of executing the functions andfeatures described herein, including, for example, a desktop computer, aworkstation computer, a server, a personal digital assistant (PDA) orcell phone, a laptop computer, a tablet personal computer, a networkedcomputer, or a computing system comprised of a cluster of processors.Further, the immunization system 110 may be implemented in whole or inpart on (or in association with) the infected network device 116, thenon-infected network device 118, a network traffic manager 136associated with the communications network 102 and the logical bypassnetwork 104, or a network traffic manager 138 between the communicationsnetwork 102 and physical bypass network 106. For example, the networktraffic managers 136, 138 may include router(s), gateway(s),firewall(s), or other devices for implementing network policies and/ormanaging network traffic.

For example, the network traffic manager 136 may represent a router thatprovides translation between the communications network 102 and thelogical bypass network 104, and that may be present on both of thecommunications network 102 and the logical bypass network 104. In somesuch example implementations, the network traffic manager 136 mayimplement the network monitor 120 and the detection rules 122 to detectthe virus 108 on the communications network 102, and/or may implementthe response generator 126 and/or the response rules 128 to distributethe anti-viral agent 112.

For example, the network traffic manager 136 may include atag-prioritized router (e.g., implementing Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS)) that is operable to recognize and prioritize network trafficthat is tagged as being associated with the anti-viral agent 112. Forexample, the top “n” tags of network traffic may be reserved on thenetwork traffic manager 136 as being associated with the anti-viralagent 112. In this way, for example, the anti-viral agent 112 may beprovided ahead of the virus 108 on the communications network 102, evenwhen the communications network 102 and the logical bypass network 104share the same computing devices and/or network traffic manager(s).

Also in FIG. 1, an entity 140 is illustrated as owning, assuring,guaranteeing, providing, or otherwise sponsoring the logical bypassnetwork 104 and/or the physical bypass network 106. Although notdirectly illustrated in FIG. 1, it should be understood that the entity140, or a different entity (not shown in FIG. 1) may sponsor thecommunications network 102, as well. Accordingly, the entity 140 may beresponsible for implementing some or all of the immunization system 110in conjunction with one or more of the communications network 102, thelogical bypass network 104, the physical bypass network 106, and/or thenetwork traffic managers 136, 138.

For example, the entity 140 may represent one or more of a networkservice provider or an antiviral service provider, and/or may representa third-party entity that provides billing or other services associatedwith defining or providing the communications network 102 on behalf of anetwork service provider (e.g., may provide the communications network102 as a virtual private network (VPN) having defined or desiredcharacteristics or users, in exchange for a fee(s)). As such, (accessto) one or more of the communications network 102, the logical bypassnetwork 104, and/or the physical bypass network 106, may be provided inconjunction with a service level agreement (SLA) between the entity anda recipient/user of one or more of the communications network 102, thelogical bypass network 104, and/or the physical bypass network 106.Thus, one or more of the communications network 102, the logical bypassnetwork 104, and/or the physical bypass network 106 may be considered tobe a managed network, e.g., managed by the entity 140. As such, one ormore of the communications network 102, the logical bypass network 104,and/or the physical bypass network 106 may be operated essentiallyindependently of one another and/or using separate/distinct managementconsoles.

Thus, as should be understood from the description provided herein, auser 142 may be provided with (or provided with access to) one or moreof the communications network 102, the logical bypass network 104,and/or the physical bypass network 106. The user 142 may include, forexample, a single consumer, employee, service provider, or otherperson(s), or may represent a corporation or other entity (e.g., acorporation providing the communications network 102 to employees aspart of a corporate intranet).

Accordingly, the user 142 may obtain the benefit(s) of one or more ofthe communications network 102, the logical bypass network 104, and/orthe physical bypass network 106, in exchange for payment provided to theentity 140. In this context, payment may refer generally to any type ofmonetary compensation, and/or non-monetary compensation, and/or economicvalue exchange. By way of example and not limitation, a payment mayinclude a non-monetary payment, including a reduced or eliminated costto the user 142, in exchange for a granting of certain rights orpermissions to the entity 140 (such as, for example, granting the entity140 rights to certain information of the user 142, including personalinformation of the user 142 for maintaining in a database for marketingor research purposes).

FIG. 2 illustrates example embodiments of the communications network 102of the multi-network virus immunization system 110 of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2,the communications network 102 is illustrated as potentially includingone or more of the public internet 202, a subset of the public internet202 such as a commodity network 203 (e.g., a VPN), a corporate intranet205, a peer-to-peer network 207, a satellite network 211, or a specifictype of the satellite network 211 such as a satellite radio network 213.Of course, the examples in FIG. 2 are non-limiting examples of thecommunications network 102, and many other examples and implementationsmay be used. As should be understood from the description providedherein, the entity 140 may be associated with providing, or providingaccess to, one or more of the example networks 202-213 illustrated inFIG. 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates example embodiments of the bypass network(s) 104, 106of the multi-network virus immunization system of FIG. 1. FIG. 3illustrates a bypass network 302 that should be understood to representor include one or both of the logical bypass network 104 and/or thephysical bypass network 106, and/or another bypass network(s). As shownand described in more detail herein, the bypass network 302 may beconfigured to provide one or more of a higher transmission speed 304, ahigher transmission reliability 306, a physically-separate transmissionpath 308, and/or a higher transmission security 310 relative totransmission of the virus 108 on the communications network 102.

In so doing, and as just referenced, the bypass network 302 may use thephysical bypass network 106 and/or the logical bypass network 104. InFIG. 3, examples of the physical bypass network 106 are illustrated asincluding one or more of a satellite network 312 (including,potentially, a satellite radio network 314), a cellular network 316, ora peer-to-peer network 318 (including, potentially, a separatepeer-to-peer network 320 that may be provided in conjunction with, butseparately or independently from, the communications network 102, e.g.,the peer-to-peer network 207).

Further in FIG. 3, the logical bypass network 104 is illustrated asincluding an analog channel on a digital link 322, including, forexample, an analog channel on a digital/broadband cable network 324. Thelogical bypass network 104 also may include prioritized router traffic326, such as, for example, the prioritized router traffic describedherein with respect to the network traffic manager 136.

The entity 140 is illustrated in FIG. 3 as sponsoring or otherwiseproviding (or providing access to) the bypass network 302. Of course, itshould be understood that the entity 140 may represent one or moreentities, and that a different entity may sponsor or provide thecommunications network 102 than the entity that provides the bypassnetwork 302.

Further in FIG. 3, the networks 104, 106, and 304-324 are illustratedwith dashed lines to illustrate examples of how the bypass network 302may be provided. Of course, again, the illustrated connections aremerely illustrative, and are not limiting as to how the bypassnetwork(s) may be connected, inter-connected, or otherwise provided.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example immunization system 110 a for providingvirus immunization using an entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Asreferenced herein, example techniques for implementing a bypass networkfor providing the anti-viral agent 112 include using theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 to provide the anti-viral agent112 to the communications network 102 for the purpose of, e.g.,countering a spread or effect of the virus 108.

In this regard, as referenced herein, the use of the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 may be considered to provide an example of use ofthe logical bypass network 104 and/or the physical bypass network 106.As shown in FIG. 4, the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 also mayinclude one or more managed bypass network(s) 404. Specific examples ofsuch a managed bypass network 404 are provided herein, but may generallyinclude virtually any logical and/or physical bypass network that is thesubject of a contract or other agreement between a managing entity and areceiving entity, and that is at least partially controlled,administered, or provided by the managing entity for the purpose of (inthe example of FIG. 4) providing the anti-viral agent 112.

In FIG. 4, examples of the entity 140 of FIG. 1 include a sponsoringentity 140 a and a distributing entity 140 b. In the example of FIG. 1,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 for a distributing entity 140 b. For example, thedistributing entity 140 b may have a vested interest in distributing theanti-viral agent 112 onto the communications network 102, and, in sodoing, in protecting the devices thereof from the virus 108, such aswhen the distributing entity 140 b seeks to disinfect the infectednetwork device 116, and/or immunize the non-infected network device 118.

The distributing entity 140 b, however, may not have the resources,ability, or desire to construct, maintain, or otherwise provide theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Instead, the sponsoring entity140 b may provide or otherwise sponsor the entity-sponsored bypassnetwork(s) 402, for the purpose of assisting in the distribution of theanti-viral agent 112, and/or for other (perhaps unrelated) purposes.Moreover, when providing the distribution of the anti-viral agent 112,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide an assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402, where sucha transmission characteristic may include, for example, a certaintransmission speed, or a certain quality of service (other examples oftransmission characteristic(s) are provided herein).

For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may include a network serviceprovider 406. The network service provider 406 may provide one or morenetworks to a large and potentially diverse audience of users, ranging,for example, from individual consumers to large corporations. Such usersmay be diverse in the sense of their respective needs or expectationsfor a provided network(s), and may be geographically diverse, as well.

Consequently, providing network service to such users may require alarge investment in obtaining (and maintaining) the various physicalmedia that may be used (e.g., fiber optic transmission, satellitetransmission, digital subscriber line (DSL) transmission, or any othernetwork access techniques/media). Since no single technique/media may besuitable or available to deploy a large-scale network, such investmentsmay span a number of combinations of such techniques and media, in orderto reach an intended audience. Moreover, the network service provider406 itself may be unable or unwilling to provide all required resourcesfor a given network, and may lease or otherwise bargain for access tonetwork access from other network service provider(s) (not specificallyillustrated in FIG. 4).

In short, deployment of the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 mayrequire an investment or effort that may not be possible, desirable,and/or cost-effective for the distributing entity 140 b to undertake.Nonetheless, the distributing entity 140 b may wish to access theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 in order to distribute theanti-viral agent on the communications network 102 (e.g., in themanner(s) described above with respect to FIG. 1, or otherwise describedherein). For example, the distributing entity 140 b may include ananti-viral service provider 408 that implements a business model basedon protecting the communications network 102 from the virus 108 andother threats. Therefore, as described herein, the sponsoring entity 140a may provide such access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402to the anti-viral service provider 408, perhaps for a fee or othercompensation, and may assure the anti-viral service provider 408 (orother distributing entity 140 b) of the availability and desired usethereof.

As another example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may include a customer410 of the network service provider 406. For example, the networkservice provider 406 may provide physical resources for one or morelarge-scale networks, and the customer 410 may represent a corporationor other entity that pays for some type of access to, or use of, atleast one of these networks. For example, the customer 410 may be acorporation that pays the network service provider 406 to provide acorporate intranet, such as, for example, a nationwide virtual privatenetwork (VPN) that is accessible only to the employees of the customer410.

Thus, the customer 410 also may act as the sponsoring entity 140 a, andmay provide access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 to thedistributing entity 140 b for distribution of the anti-viral agent 112in a desired manner. For example, where the customer 410 includes acorporation, the distributing entity 140 b may include a subsidiary orsubset of the corporation charged with protecting the corporation'scomputers from the virus 108. As another example, the corporation(customer 410) may contract with the anti-viral service provider 408 toobtain virus protection therefrom for its corporate intranet.

As yet another example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may include a virusdetector 412. For example, the virus detector 412 may represent orinclude an entity and/or software that detects and/or identifies avirus, such as the virus 108, on the communications network 102. Forexample, the virus detector 412 may detect the virus 108 and determine asignature of the virus 108 for comparison to known signatures (e.g.,using the network monitor 120, the detection rules 122, and the virusdata 124 of the immunization system 110 a). Upon detection andidentification of the virus 108, the virus detector 412 may be involvedin notifying the distributing entity 140 b thereof, and thereafter maybe involved in providing access to, and/or use of, the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates several examples of the sponsoring entity140 a and the distributing entity 140 b, it should be understood thatthese are non-limiting examples for the purposes of illustration, andmany other examples may exist. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 amay include combinations of the two or more of the network serviceprovider 406, the customer 410, and/or the virus detector 412. Asanother example, the anti-viral service provider 408 also may act as thesponsoring entity 140 a. Conversely, any of the network service provider406, the customer 410, and/or the virus detector 412, or substantiallyany combination thereof, may act as the distributing entity 140 b.

In providing the functions and services described herein, the sponsoringentity 140 a and/or the distributing entity 140 b may use, access, orprovide some or all of the immunization system 110 a. For example, thedistributing entity 140 b may implement the network monitor 120, thedetection rules 122, the virus data 124, the response generator 126, theresponse rules 128, and/or the anti-viral agent data 130, as thosecomponents are described above with respect to FIG. 1. Meanwhile, thesponsoring entity 140 a may implement additional or alternativecomponents, e.g., access logic 414, distribution logic 416, and entitydata 418.

For example, the access logic 414 may include logic to determine whetherand how to provide access to the distributing entity 140 b. For example,the access logic 414 may include authorization and authentication logic,e.g., by receiving a request from the distributing entity 140 b and thenchecking pre-stored entity data 418 to determine whether thedistributing entity 140 b has previously paid for access to theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

Once access has been granted, the distribution logic 416 may be used toensure that the distributing entity 140 b receives a desiredtransmission or other distribution of the anti-viral agent 112, usingthe entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. For example, thedistributing entity 140 b may contract with the sponsoring entity 140 ato obtain a distribution of the anti-viral agent 112 with a certaintransmission speed over the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Thedistribution logic 416 may, upon granting of access to the distributingentity 140 b, determine and enforce this transmission speed of theanti-viral agent 112 on the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Ofcourse, transmission speed is only one example of various transmissioncharacteristics that may be assured by the sponsoring entity 140 a(e.g., by the distribution logic 416) for distributing the anti-viralagent 112 over the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operational flow representing example operationsrelated to techniques for virus immunization using an entity-sponsoredbypass network. In FIG. 5 and in following figures that include variousexamples of operational flows, discussion and explanation may beprovided with respect to the above-described examples of FIGS. 1-4,and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. However, it shouldbe understood that the operational flows may be executed in a number ofother environments and contexts, and/or in modified versions of FIGS.1-4. Also, although the various operational flows are presented in thesequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the variousoperations may be performed in other orders than those which areillustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

After a start operation, the operational flow 500 moves to a providingoperation 510 in which access may be provided to at least one bypassnetwork. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide access tothe distributing entity 140 b. As a more specific example, theanti-viral service provider 408 may detect the virus 108 on thecommunications network 102 (e.g., using the network monitor 120,detection rules 122, and/or the virus data 124). The anti-viral serviceprovider 408 may determine that the entity-sponsored bypass network(s)402 would be useful to distribute the anti-viral agent 112, and mayrequest access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Thenetwork service provider 406 may implement the access logic 414 todetermine that the anti-viral service provider 408 is entitled to accessthe entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402, and may thereafter providethe access thereto.

In a providing operation 520, distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with a virus may be provided, usingthe at least one bypass network. For example, the sponsoring entity 140a may provide for the distribution of the anti-viral agent 112 onto thecommunications network 102 that may be associated with the virus 108,using the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. Continuing the morespecific example just discussed, the network service provider 406 mayimplement the distribution logic 416 to distribute the anti-viral agent112 in a manner desired by the anti-viral service provider 408. Forexample, the anti-viral service provider 408 may express that the virus108 presents a very high threat level, and may request thehighest-available distribution priority/speed. Accordingly, the networkservice provider 406 may implement the distribution logic 416 todetermine that the physical bypass network 106 (e.g., a satellitenetwork) provides such distribution, and may provide such distributionto the anti-viral service provider 408.

In a providing operation 530, an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to providing the distribution may be provided. For example, thesponsoring entity 140 a may provide such an assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic (e.g., transmission speed, transmission quality, and/ortransmission security). Continuing the specific example above, thenetwork service provider 406 may provide an assurance to the anti-viralservice provider 408 that the physical bypass network 106 will provide aspecified transmission speed when distributing the anti-viral agent 112.

As a result of the operations 510-530, operation(s) may be performedthat are related either to a local or remote storage of digital data, orto another type of transmission of digital data. As discussed herein, inaddition to providing, accessing, querying, recalling, or otherwisedetermining or using the digital data for the operations 510-530,operations may be performed related to storing, assigning, associating,or otherwise archiving the digital data to a memory, including, forexample, sending and/or receiving a transmission of the digital datafrom a remote memory. Accordingly, any such operation(s) may involveelements including at least an operator (e.g., either human or computer)directing the operation, a transmitting computer, and/or a receivingcomputer, and should be understood to occur within the United States aslong as at least one of these elements resides in the United States.

FIG. 6 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 510 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 602, an operation 604, anoperation 606, an operation 608, an operation 610, an operation 612, anoperation 614, an operation 616, and/or an operation 618.

At the operation 602, access to the at least one bypass network isprovided to a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent. For example,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 to the distributing entity 140 b, e.g., theanti-viral service provider 408, perhaps in response to a request fromthe distributing entity 140 b for such access.

At the operation 604, access to the at least one bypass network isprovided, based on a service level agreement with a distributing entityof the anti-viral agent to whom the access is provided. For example, asjust mentioned, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 to the distributing entity 140 b.In the example of the operation 604, the entity-sponsored bypassnetwork(s) 402 may include the managed bypass network 404, and thesponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to thereto based on a servicelevel agreement (SLA) with the distributing entity.

In this context, the managed bypass network 404 may be understood toinclude, in some examples, a logical network using prioritized routingof data thereon. For example, the managed bypass network 404 may uselabel-switched routing, which also may be referred to as label-switchingor similar terms, in which the managed bypass network 404 (including,e.g., the network traffic manager 138) may route data packets based onassociated label(s). In such cases, data traffic of the distributingentity 140 b (e.g., the anti-viral agent 112) may be associated with alabel that prioritizes transmission thereof. One example of suchlabel-switching, as referenced above, is known as Multi-Protocol LabelSwitching (MPLS).

In the example of MPLS, data of the distributing entity 140 b may beassigned a preferred transmission class, e.g., Forwarding EquivalenceClass (FEC), that allows a desired distribution thereof. In someexamples, such preferred forwarding may be accomplished through the useof queue scheduling priority, e.g., within one or more queues (not shownin FIG. 4) of the network traffic manager 138. In other, similarexamples, the managed bypass network 404 may implement a policy ofDifferentiated Services (DiffServ). DiffServ may be used to provide aminimum level of quality of service (QoS) for data of the distributingentity 140 b. Thus, it may be understood that MPLS, DiffServ, or otherprioritized routing or transmission techniques may be implemented, basedon the SLA between the sponsoring entity 140 a and the distributingentity 140 b.

At the operation 606, authorization and/or authentication informationfor the access may be obtained. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 amay obtain such authorization and/or authentication information from thedistributing entity 140 b, such as when the distributing entity 140 bwishes to access the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 todistribute the anti-viral agent 112. At the operation 608, the accessmay be provided based on the authorization and/or authentication. Forexample, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 based on authenticationinformation obtained from the distributing entity 140 b. As a morespecific example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may implement the accesslogic to obtain a username and password from the distributing entity 140b, for comparison against the entity data 418, to determine that thedistributing entity 140 b is entitled to a certain type or level ofaccess to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

At the operation 610, fee-based access to the at least one bypassnetwork may be provided. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a mayaccept a fee from the distributing entity 140 b for accessing theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402. As would be apparent, such a feemay be based on monthly or yearly access, or may be based on actualusage of the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

At the operation 612, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided for an anti-viral service provider. For example, the sponsoringentity 140 a may provide access to the anti-viral service provider 408,for distribution thereby of the anti-viral agent 112.

At the operation 614, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided to a virus detection service. For example, the sponsoringentity 140 a may include the network service provider 406, and thedistributing entity 140 b may include the virus detector 412. In thisexample, then, the network service provider 406 may provide the virusdetector 412 with access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

At the operation 616, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided to a network service provider. For example, the sponsoringentity 140 a may include a first network service provider, such as thenetwork service provider 406, and the distributing entity 140 b mayinclude a second network service provider (not shown in FIG. 4), whichmay receive access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 fromthe network service provider 406.

At the operation 618, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network being at least partiallylogically separate from the communications network. For example, thesponsoring entity 140 a, perhaps using the access logic 414, may providethe distributing entity 140 b with access to the logical bypass network104.

FIG. 7 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 510 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 702, an operation 704, anoperation 706, an operation 708, an operation 710, an operation 712,and/or an operation 714.

At the operation 702, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including aphysically-separate network from the communications network. Forexample, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide the distributing entity140 b with access to the physical bypass network 106.

At the operation 704, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including a managed network.For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide the distributingentity 140 b with access to the managed network 404. As should beunderstood from the present description, the managed network 404 mayinclude a VPN and/or a label-switched network, perhaps implemented usingMPLS or DiffServ, and perhaps based on a SLA.

At the operation 706, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including at least two bypassnetworks having entity-sponsored assurance of transmission therebetween.For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide the distributingentity 140 b with access to two or more of the logical bypass network104, the managed bypass network 404, and/or the physical bypass network106. In this regard, for example, it should be understood that, asreferenced above, the network service provider 406 may be responsiblefor various types of networks and network transmission media. Forexample, one type of transmission media (e.g., fiber optics) may besuitable or available in one geographical area, while only another typeof transmission media (e.g., satellite transmission) may be suitable oravailable in another area. The network service provider 406 may own,maintain or otherwise be responsible for these various networks and/ornetwork transmission media, and may provide access to/across some or allof these to the distributing entity 140 b.

At the operation 708, access to an immunization system in communicationswith the at least one bypass network may be provided. For example, thesponsoring entity 140 a may provide the distributing entity 140 b withaccess to the immunization system 110 a. For example, the distributingentity 140 b may include the customer 410 or other customer that may usea corporate intranet provided by the network service provider 406. Insuch a case, the distributing entity 140 b may have few or no resourcesfor countering the virus 108, and in these or similar cases, thesponsoring entity 140 a may provide access to at least a portion of theimmunization system 110 a, e.g., as a service, to the distributingentity 140 b. In this way, the customer 410 of this example(s) maymonitor/detect the virus 108, formulate a response, and then may use theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 to distribute the anti-viralagent 112 accordingly.

At the operation 710, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including at least one of: awide area network, a local area network, a virtual local area network, avirtual private network, a metropolitan area network, a peer-to-peernetwork, and/or an intranet. Such examples of the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402, and other examples, may be understood from FIG. 3and the associated description provided herein, e.g., with reference tothe networks 304-326. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a mayprovide the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 as including aplurality of local area networks (and/or virtual local area networks)that are interconnected by a wide area network, with associated uplinksand connections that allow the sponsoring entity 140 a to maintain theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 as a secure, private, convenient,and cost-effective resource for the distributing entity 140 b todistribute the anti-viral agent 112.

At the operation 712, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including at least one of: anEthernet-based network, a wireless network, a Bluetooth network, a Wi-Finetwork, a public switched telephone network, and/or a packet-switchednetwork. For example, as referenced herein, the entity-sponsored bypassnetwork(s) 402 may include a corporate network that is provided as awireless network across a campus(es) of the corporation, and that isreserved for transmitting certain data, e.g., the anti-viral agent 112.

At the operation 714, access to the at least one bypass network may beprovided, the at least one bypass network including at least one of: asatellite network, a satellite radio network, a cellular network, acable network, a fiber network, and/or a paging network. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 mayinclude one or more of the satellite network 312, or the cellularnetwork 316.

FIG. 8 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 520 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 802, an operation 804, anoperation 806, an operation 808, an operation 810, an operation 812,and/or an operation 814.

At the operation 802, a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent maybe allowed to distribute the anti-viral agent based on response rules ofthe distributing entity. For example, the distributing entity 140 b maybe allowed to distribute the anti-viral agent 112 based on the responserules 128 of the immunization system 110 a.

At the operation 804, a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent maybe allowed to manage resources of the at least one bypass network. Forexample, the sponsoring entity 140 a may allow the distributing entity140 b to manage resources of the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402,e.g., the physical bypass network 106. For example, the distributingentity 140 b may be allowed to manage an available bandwidth that may beused (e.g., within a defined range).

At the operation 806, the distribution of the anti-viral agent may beprovided based on distribution logic of a sponsoring entity providingthe entity-sponsored assurance. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 amay provide the distribution of the anti-viral agent 112 based on thedistribution logic 416. For example, the distribution logic 416 maydictate that where the communications network 102 includes atree-structured or hierarchical network, the anti-viral agent 112 shouldbe distributed first to network nodes having the largest number ofbranches stemming therefrom, so as to increase an efficacy of thedistribution in containing the virus 108.

At the operation 808, the anti-viral agent may be distributed based on arequest from a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent. For example,the sponsoring entity 140 a may receive a request from the distributingentity 140 b. For example, the request may be in accordance with a SLAor other contractual relationship, or may be on an as-needed basis.

At the operation 810, distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with the virus may be provided, thevirus being transmitted on the communications network. For example, thesponsoring entity 140 a may allow the distributing entity 140 b todistribute the anti-viral agent 112 onto the communications network 102,where the virus 108 may be transmitted on the communications network 102(e.g., the virus 108 may be present on the infected network device 116,with the potential to be transmitted to the non-infected device 118).

At the operation 812, distribution of the anti-viral agent to a networkdevice of the communications network in advance of an infection of thenetwork device by the virus may be provided, using the at least onebypass network. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may allow thedistributing entity 140 b to distribute the anti-viral agent 112 to thenon-infected device 118 of the communications network 102, in advance ofan arrival of the virus 108 from the infected device 116, using theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

At the operation 814, distribution of a reference to the anti-viralagent to a network device of the communications network may be provided,wherein the reference provides access to the anti-viral agent. Forexample, the sponsoring entity 140 a may allow the distributing entity140 b to use the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 to distribute alink, pointer, or other reference to the anti-viral agent 112, ratherthan to distribute the anti-viral agent 112 itself. For example, thenon-infected device 118 may receive a link to access a network locationat which the anti-viral agent 112 is stored.

FIG. 9 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 9 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 520 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 902, an operation 904, anoperation 906, an operation 908, an operation 910, and/or an operation912.

At the operation 902, distribution of the anti-viral agent to thecommunications network may be provided, including providing transmissionof a multicast or broadcast transmission to one or more network deviceson the communications network. For example, the sponsoring entity 140 amay allow the distributing entity 140 b to initiate a multicast orbroadcast transmission of the anti-viral agent 112 to devices of thecommunications network 102 (e.g., to the non-infected network device 118and similarly-situated devices), using the entity-sponsored bypassnetwork(s) 402. As a more specific example, such multicast or broadcasttransmissions may be governed by, or implemented by, the distributionlogic 416.

At the operation 904, distribution of the anti-viral agent onto thecommunications network using the at least one bypass network may beprovided, using a network traffic management device that is operable toimplement rules governing the distributing of the anti-viral agent ontothe communications network. For example, the network traffic manager 138may be included in the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402, and alsomay be configured to communicate with the communications network 102.For example, the network traffic manager 138 may include a router thatperforms a translation function between data on the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 and data on the communications network 102.Accordingly, the network traffic manager 138 may implement rules forgoverning distribution of the anti-viral agent 112 onto thecommunications network 102; e.g., may implement at least some of theresponse rules 128 and/or the distribution logic 416.

At the operation 906, prioritized routing of the anti-viral agent,relative to communications data of the communications network, may beprovided. For example, as referenced herein, the sponsoring entity 140 amay provide or allow for distribution of the anti-viral agent 112 usingMPLS, DiffServ, and/or prioritized queue scheduling, e.g., using thenetwork traffic manager 138 and similar or comparable devices.

At the operation 908, distribution of the anti-viral agent onto thecommunications network associated with the virus may be provided, thecommunications network including at least one of: a wide area network, alocal area network, a virtual local area network, a virtual privatenetwork, a metropolitan area network, a peer-to-peer network, and/or anintranet. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the communicationsnetwork 102 may include the peer-to-peer network 207, or may include thecorporate intranet 205.

At the operation 910, distribution of the anti-viral agent onto thecommunications network associated with the virus may be provided, thecommunications network including at least one of: an Ethernet-basednetwork, a wireless network, a Bluetooth network, a Wi-Fi network, apublic switched telephone network, and/or a packet-switched network. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the communications network 102 mayinclude the corporate intranet 205 that may be provided as a wirelessnetwork across a campus(es) of the corporation.

At the operation 912, distribution of the anti-viral agent onto thecommunications network associated with the virus may be provided, thecommunications network including at least one of: a satellite network, acellular network, a cable network, a fiber network, a microwave network,and/or a paging network. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, thecommunications network 102 may include the satellite network 211 or thesatellite radio network 213.

FIG. 10 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 10 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 530 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 1002, an operation 1004,an operation 1006, an operation 1008, an operation 1010, and/or anoperation 1012.

At the operation 1002, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a lower transmission latency of the anti-viralagent on the at least one bypass network relative to transmission of thevirus on the communications network. For example, lower transmissionlatency may include higher transmission speed on the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 than on the communications network 102, but alsomay include lower network congestion and/or a shorter path.

At the operation 1004, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a higher transmission speed of the anti-viralagent on the at least one bypass network relative to transmission of thevirus on the communications network. For example, the sponsoring entity140 a may provide assurance to the distributing entity 140 b that theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 will provide a highertransmission speed of the anti-viral agent 112 than will be experiencedby the virus 108 on the communications network 102.

At the operation 1006, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a higher quality of service of transmission ofthe anti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network. For example,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide assurance to the distributingentity 140 b that the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 willprovide a higher quality of service than is experienced by data on thecommunications network 102, e.g., in accordance with a SLA or otheragreement.

At the operation 1008, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a higher security transmission of theanti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network. For example,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide assurance to the distributingentity 140 b that the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 willprovide a higher data encryption level than is available on thecommunications network 102.

At the operation 1010, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a higher transmission reliability of theanti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network. For example,the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide assurance to the distributingentity 140 b that the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 willprovide the higher transmission reliability than is available to thevirus 108 on the communications network 102. By using an effectivelyhigher reliability and/or security, the entity-sponsored bypassnetwork(s) 402 may increase the probability or expectation that theanti-viral agent 112 may be delivered to the communications network 102in a way that is effective in stopping or otherwise limiting the spreadof the virus 108.

At the operation 1012, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a faster point-to-point delivery time of theanti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network. For example, asdescribed herein, the logical bypass network 104 may include some or allof the same physical devices of the communications network 102, but maybe logically connected in different ways. Thus, the communicationsnetwork 102 may transmit the virus 108 from a first network device to asecond network device in a certain number of seconds, while the logicalbypass network 104 may transmit the anti-viral agent 112 from the firstnetwork device to the second network device in some lesser amount oftime. Consequently, for example, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provideassurance to the distributing entity 140 b that the entity-sponsoredbypass network(s) 402 will provide a desired point-to-point deliverytime for transmission of the anti-viral agent 112, e.g., using thedistribution logic 416.

FIG. 11 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 500 of FIG. 5. FIG. 11 illustrates example embodiments where theproviding operation 530 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include an operation 1102, an operation 1104,an operation 1106, an operation 1108, and/or an operation 1110.

At the operation 1102, the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic may be provided, the transmissioncharacteristic including a faster end-to-end delivery time of theanti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network. For example,there may be a network path between the infected network device 116 andthe non-infected network device 118, and the logical bypass network 104may be configured to transmit the anti-viral agent 112 from the infectednetwork device 116 to the non-infected network device 118 in a lesseramount of time than the communications network 102, where the networkpath may include the end-to-end transmission therebetween, and theend-to-end transmission may include a plurality of point-to-pointtransmissions between particular, connected devices of thecommunications network 102. Thus, for example, the sponsoring entity 140a may provide assurance to the distributing entity 140 b that theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 will provide a desired end-to-enddelivery time, e.g., using the distribution logic 416.

At the operation 1104, an agreement with a distributing entity of theanti-viral agent may be entered. For example, the sponsoring entity 140a may enter an agreement (e.g., a SLA) with the distributing entity 140b regarding access to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402 and/ordistribution of the anti-viral agent 112 thereon.

At the operation 1106, a guarantee of the transmission characteristicmay be provided to a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent. Forexample, the sponsoring entity 140 a may provide a guarantee to thedistributing entity 140 b of the transmission characteristic, e.g., inaccordance with an agreement therewith.

At the operation 1108, a consequence of a failure to sufficientlyprovide the transmission characteristic during the distribution of theanti-viral agent may be provided. For example, the sponsoring entity 140a may agree to a consequence for failing to provide the transmissioncharacteristic in the assured manner. For example, where the sponsoringentity 140 a provides assurance of a certain transmission speed on theentity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402, and the transmission speed isnot provided, then the sponsoring entity may provide a refund to thedistributing entity 140 b, or may provide free or discounted futureaccess to the entity-sponsored bypass network(s) 402.

At the operation 1110, an assurance of a result of the distribution ofthe anti-viral agent may be provided. For example, the sponsoring entity140 a may provide assurance to the distributing entity 140 b that acertain result in distributing the anti-viral agent 112 will beachieved. For example, such a result may include a percentage or numberof devices of the communications network 102 that are immunized, perhapswithin a certain time frame or having a certain (maximum) amount ofinfection of the communications network 102 or individual devicesthereof.

FIG. 12 illustrates a partial view of an example computer programproduct 1200 that includes a computer program 1204 for executing acomputer process on a computing device. An embodiment of the examplecomputer program product 1200 is provided using a signal bearing medium1202, and may include at least one or more instructions 1204 forproviding access to at least one bypass network, and the signal bearingmedium 1202 also bearing one or more instructions for providingdistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network, and thesignal bearing medium 1202 also bearing one or more instructions forproviding an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristicof the at least one bypass network with respect to the providing thedistribution.

The one or more instructions may be, for example, computer executableand/or logic-implemented instructions. In one implementation, thesignal-bearing medium 1202 may include a computer-readable medium 1206.In one implementation, the signal bearing medium 1202 may include arecordable medium 1208. In one implementation, the signal bearing medium1202 may include a communications medium 1210.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example system 1300 in which embodiments may beimplemented. The system 1300 includes a computing system environment.The system 1300 also illustrates the user 1314 using a device 1304,which is optionally shown as being in communication with a computingdevice 1302 by way of an optional coupling 1306. The optional coupling1306 may represent a local, wide-area, or peer-to-peer network, or mayrepresent a bus that is internal to a computing device (e.g., in exampleembodiments in which the computing device 1302 is contained in whole orin part within the device 1304). A storage medium 1308 may includevirtually any computer storage media.

The computing device 1302 includes computer-executable instructions 1310that when executed on the computing device 1302 cause the computingdevice 1302 to provide access to at least one bypass network, providedistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network, andprovide an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristicof the at least one bypass network with respect to a provision of thedistribution.

In FIG. 13, then, the system 1300 includes at least one computing device(e.g., 1302, 1304, and/or 1312). The computer-executable instructions1310 may be executed on one or more of the at least one computingdevice. For example, the computing device 1302 may implement thecomputer-executable instructions 1310 and output a result to (and/orreceive data from) the computing device 1304. Since the computing device1302 may be wholly or partially contained within the device 1312, thedevice 1312 also may be said to execute some or all of thecomputer-executable instructions 1310, in order to be caused to performor implement, for example, various ones of the techniques describedherein, or other techniques.

In addition, those skilled in the art will understand thatcomputer-executable instructions 1310 may further include one or moreinstructions sufficient to perform one or more of the operationsillustrated and/or described in relation to one or more of FIG. 5through FIG. 11, but that such operations are not shown expressly hereinfor sake of brevity.

The device 1304 may include, for example, one or more of a server, apersonal digital assistant (PDA) or cell phone, a laptop computer, atablet personal computer, a networked computer, a computing systemcomprised of a cluster of processors, a workstation computer, and/or adesktop computer. In another example embodiment, the device 1304 may beoperable to provide the anti-viral agent to the communications network102 and prevent, reduce, or inhibit propagation of the virus 108thereon.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/oradjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processingsystem may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially availablecomponents, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermediate components. Likewise, any two componentsso associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or“operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality.Any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed asbeing “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from this subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solelydefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that any disjunctive word and/orphrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

1. A method comprising: providing access to at least one bypass network;providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communicationsnetwork associated with a virus, using the at least one bypass networkwhich comprises devices not included in the communications network;providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristicof the at least one bypass network with respect to the providing thedistribution; and allowing a distributing entity of the anti-viral agentto manage resources of the at least one bypass network.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein providing access to at least one bypass networkcomprises: providing access to the at least one bypass network, based ona service level agreement with a distributing entity of the anti-viralagent to whom the access is provided.
 3. The method of claim 1 whereinproviding access to at least one bypass network comprises: providingfee-based access to the at least one bypass network.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein providing access to at least one bypass networkcomprises: providing access to the at least one bypass network, the atleast one bypass network including at least two bypass networks havingentity-sponsored assurance of transmission therebetween.
 5. The methodof claim 1 wherein providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto acommunications network associated with a virus, using the at least onebypass network, comprises: providing prioritized routing of theanti-viral agent, relative to communications data of the communicationsnetwork.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises:providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a lowertransmission latency of the anti-viral agent on the at least one bypassnetwork relative to transmission of the virus on the communicationsnetwork.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises:providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a highertransmission speed of the anti-viral agent on the at least one bypassnetwork relative to transmission of the virus on the communicationsnetwork.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises:providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a higherquality of service of transmission of the anti-viral agent on the atleast one bypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a highersecurity transmission of the anti-viral agent on the at least one bypassnetwork relative to transmission of the virus on the communicationsnetwork.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises:providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a highertransmission reliability of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a fasterpoint-to-point delivery time of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a fasterend-to-end delivery time of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: entering an agreement with a distributing entity of theanti-viral agent.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: providing a guarantee of the transmission characteristic to adistributing entity of the anti-viral agent.
 15. The method of claim 1wherein providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: providing a consequence of afailure to sufficiently provide the transmission characteristic duringthe distribution of the anti-viral agent.
 16. The method of claim 1wherein providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: providing an assurance of a resultof the distribution of the anti-viral agent.
 17. A computer programproduct comprising: a non-transitory signal-bearing medium bearing: (a)one or more instructions for providing access to at least one bypassnetwork; (b) one or more instructions for providing distribution of ananti-viral agent onto a communications network associated with a virus,using the at least one bypass network which comprises devices notincluded in the communications network; (c) one or more instructions forproviding an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristicof the at least one bypass network with respect to the providing thedistribution; and (d) allowing a distributing entity of the anti-viralagent to manage resources of the at least one bypass network.
 18. Asystem comprising: means including hardware for providing access to atleast one bypass network; means including hardware for providingdistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network whichcomprises devices not included in the communications network; meansincluding hardware for providing an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution; and means including hardwarefor allowing a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent to manageresources of the at least one bypass network.
 19. The system of claim18, wherein the means for providing access to at least one bypassnetwork comprises: means for providing access to the at least one bypassnetwork, based on a service level agreement with a distributing entityof the anti-viral agent to whom the access is provided.
 20. The systemof claim 18, wherein the means for providing access to at least onebypass network comprises: means for obtaining authorization and/orauthentication information for the access; and means for providing theaccess based on the authorization and/or authentication.
 21. The systemof claim 18, wherein the means for providing access to at least onebypass network comprises: means for providing fee-based access to the atleast one bypass network.
 22. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing access to at least one bypass network comprises: means forproviding access to the at least one bypass network to a virus detectionservice.
 23. The system of claim 15, wherein the means for providingaccess to at least one bypass network comprises: means for providingaccess to the at least one bypass network, the at least one bypassnetwork being at least partially logically separate from thecommunications network.
 24. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing access to at least one bypass network comprises: means forproviding access to the at least one bypass network, the at least onebypass network including a managed network.
 25. The system of claim 18,wherein the means for providing access to at least one bypass networkcomprises: means for providing access to the at least one bypassnetwork, the at least one bypass network including at least two bypassnetworks having entity-sponsored assurance of transmission therebetween.26. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for providing distributionof an anti-viral agent onto a communications network associated with avirus, using the at least one bypass network, comprises: means forallowing a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent to distribute theanti-viral agent based on response rules of the distributing entity. 27.The system of claim 18, wherein the means for providing distribution ofan anti-viral agent onto a communications network associated with avirus, using the at least one bypass network, comprises: means forproviding the distribution of the anti-viral agent based on distributionlogic of a sponsoring entity providing the entity-sponsored assurance.28. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for providing distributionof an anti-viral agent onto a communications network associated with avirus, using the at least one bypass network, comprises: means forproviding distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communicationsnetwork associated with the virus, the virus being transmitted on thecommunications network.
 29. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communicationsnetwork associated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network,comprises: means for providing distribution of the anti-viral agent to anetwork device of the communications network in advance of an infectionof the network device by the virus, using the at least one bypassnetwork.
 30. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for providingdistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network,comprises: means for providing distribution of the anti-viral agent ontothe communications network using the at least one bypass network, usinga network traffic management device that is operable to implement rulesgoverning the distributing of the anti-viral agent onto thecommunications network.
 31. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communicationsnetwork associated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network,comprises: means for providing prioritized routing of the anti-viralagent, relative to communications data of the communications network.32. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for providing anentity-sponsored assurance of a transmission characteristic of the atleast one bypass network with respect to the providing the distributioncomprises: means for providing the entity-sponsored assurance of thetransmission characteristic, the transmission characteristic including alower transmission latency of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 33. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: means for providing theentity-sponsored assurance of the transmission characteristic, thetransmission characteristic including a higher transmission speed of theanti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network.
 34. The systemof claim 18, wherein the means for providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises: meansfor providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a higherquality of service of transmission of the anti-viral agent on the atleast one bypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 35. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: means for providing theentity-sponsored assurance of the transmission characteristic, thetransmission characteristic including a higher security transmission ofthe anti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relative totransmission of the virus on the communications network.
 36. The systemof claim 18, wherein the means for providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises: meansfor providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a highertransmission reliability of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 37. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: means for providing theentity-sponsored assurance of the transmission characteristic, thetransmission characteristic including a faster point-to-point deliverytime of the anti-viral agent on the at least one bypass network relativeto transmission of the virus on the communications network.
 38. Thesystem of claim 18, wherein the means for providing an entity-sponsoredassurance of a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypassnetwork with respect to the providing the distribution comprises: meansfor providing the entity-sponsored assurance of the transmissioncharacteristic, the transmission characteristic including a fasterend-to-end delivery time of the anti-viral agent on the at least onebypass network relative to transmission of the virus on thecommunications network.
 39. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: means for entering an agreementwith a distributing entity of the anti-viral agent.
 40. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the means for providing an entity-sponsored assuranceof a transmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution comprises: means for providinga guarantee of the transmission characteristic to a distributing entityof the anti-viral agent.
 41. The system of claim 18, wherein the meansfor providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution comprises: means for providing a consequenceof a failure to sufficiently provide the transmission characteristicduring the distribution of the anti-viral agent.
 42. The system of claim18, wherein the means for providing an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution comprises: means for providingan assurance of a result of the distribution of the anti-viral agent.43. The system of claim 18, further comprising: a computing deviceincluding at least one of a server, a personal digital assistant (PDA),a cell phone, a laptop computer, a tablet personal computer, a networkedcomputer, a computing system comprised of a cluster of processors, aworkstation computer, and/or a desktop computer; and said computingdevice operably coupled with at least one of said means for providingaccess to at least one bypass network, said means for providingdistribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communications networkassociated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network, and/orsaid means for providing an entity-sponsored assurance of a transmissioncharacteristic of the at least one bypass network with respect to theproviding the distribution.
 44. The system of claim 18, furthercomprising: a computing device operable to provide the anti-viral agentto the communications network and prevent, reduce, or inhibitpropagation of the virus thereon, using the at least one bypass network;and said computing device operably coupled with at least one of saidmeans for providing access to at least one bypass network, said meansfor providing distribution of an anti-viral agent onto a communicationsnetwork associated with a virus, using the at least one bypass network,and/or said means for providing an entity-sponsored assurance of atransmission characteristic of the at least one bypass network withrespect to the providing the distribution.